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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Summer weather continued up until a front blew through overnight. Today was the first day that feels like Autumn to me: overnight is chilly, morning air is crisp, midday is warm, some trees are starting to show color.

With that comes a change of mood which affects my stitching focus. I took out some pieces which have not seen progress for a year or more. One will go back to sleep as it just did not hit 'the spot.'

HDF 'Woodland Path' Filet

I finished the small HDF thread test on the woodland pathlike color.

The greens are more green in real life.Wiehenburg: Quaker Welcome

Still in the mood to stitch with HDF, a mystery unlabeled spool, I hauled out my WIP of this very long Quaker Welcome sampler. I finished a motif, started another then put it down.

I will be putting this away until another time.

HDF Chilean Sunset Filet

Then I started another HDF color test: Chilean Sunset.

The colors were much better than I expected.

This is using another filet lace pattern.

JCS Ornament Sampler

I am often inspired and influenced by stitching on other blogs and on assorted stitching message boards.

All the talk about the 2012 Just Cross Stitch Christmas issue made me take out my JCS Christmas Ornament sampler.

I have neither need nor desire for too many small stitched things. I have no display cases and my book shelves are already overfull so I do not stitch things unless I can make them fit in a frame.

A long while ago I started this a piece of cloth a Montreal stitcher generously sent me. The New Castle line of linens were just coming out. She sent me a fat quarter of sand New Castle which I had not known existed. I immediately started a sampler with ornaments from the 1997 JCS Christmas Ornament magazine.

Since then I have included ornaments from other years. I put them in as I can get them to fit. My optimistic intent was to fill up this cloth then start another and another.

Since this one has been about 8 or more years in the making to this point, you can appreciate how optimistic that thought is. I have changed some colors, added beads, textural stitches as the whim hits. The sand color does not show up in the above picture.I am still waiting for my 2012 issue to get to my mailbox.

SANQ Joane Wallwin

SANQ article Part 1

Another reawakened interest from a topic on a message board. I dove into my stash, grateful that at least some of it is still organized. Out came the piece which confirmed that I am in for a change of focus on my stitching.

original Wallwin

I hauled out Joane Wallwin which has not seen any work for at least 5 years or longer. The uncertainty of not having all the threads called for is no longer going to hold me back. The strangeness of working over 3 threads on tightly woven Oyster cloth is also not an issue anymore. I don't know why these changed feelings happen but I am very glad for them.

SANQ Spring 2002 cover

The pattern as printed in SANQ over several issues, charted by Page Dorsey, Sampler Workes, is charted for Au Ver a Soie silks: Soie de Paris and 100/3.

The Soie de Paris's numbers are the same codes used for regular AVAS silks which I can match for color.

The 100/3 silks are an issue. I have no clue if these numbers are equivalent to any other line of thread or yarn. I had some of them in my stash but not all.

Designer's Model stitched Part 1

The designer used a 40/50 count uneven Oyster cloth.

I don't know how she tamed some of those threads!

The tight twist of the 100/3 makes it too stiff to sit over 3 on my oyster cloth. It arches up too high for my tastes.

10 years of my progress

I used DMC cotton floss instead, eyeballed to the 100/3 color or just chosen to correspond to my interpretation of the color name in the required color family values. In one case, the first band's "light salmon." I changed to a deeper one. The original light color was not showing up on the cloth. The DMC is still a little too thick for crisp blackwork lines but I do not have anything thinner.

Blackbird Designs Christmas Garden

I loved it when I saw it. I do not love it now. Mostly enjoyed it but now not so much. I still hope to finish it by the end of the year.

I finally got a picture which is a truer representation of the cloth color.

Tony Minieri's Stars for a New Millenium

New SAL, a 2 year project with The Wagon (a yuku board) starting in October. It scares yet excites me. I have the pattern, the threads, the canvas and bars. I just need to arrange them and wait for the start. No picture yet: tune in next month.

Chances of finishing this year's chief WIPS:

Bicknell/Needlepoint Now: Pieces of Eight: Most likely.

Blackbird Designs Christmas Garden: Most likely but I will have to set aside days that I make myself work on this.

Perin Lahaina Breezes: Not likely. I have to change the thread in the outer most border. Satin stitching the 5 or 6 strands of DMC is just fuzzing up too much even with short strands.

Martina Egyptian Mandala: No way.

Lizzie Kate Winter Alphabet: Probably not.

Martina Japanese Panels: One more panel hopefully, but I would rather have more progress on Egypt.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Pieces of Eight

I did not get work done on Pieces of Eight since my last post because I could not put down the Filet Bluework but I did take an updated picture of progress made in June.

When I post the finish I hope to include notes about what colors I feel the magazine got wrong when ccompared to the photos and my own work. Not all the colors listed in the directions need to be bought. Based on my study of the photo of the original piece, it had fewer colors with better distribution.

I finally started making more of my own choices as I progressed. I wished I'd made them sooner to better balance the colors. I love it anyway.

Chatelaine: Egyptian Mandala

I am finally starting to feel like I am getting somewhere. It is funny to me, that while I longed to be done with the inner block sections there was something reassuring about filling them in. I have to pay more attention to the chart now.

New territory to be stitched. I am on to other shapes, other motifs.

Filet Lace Bluework

This piece did not take long as I could not stand to put it down. The colors are still a little off but a little closer than the older picture.

I enjoyed working on this piece so much I dove into my stash of HDF spools then found another small pattern to start.

Filet Leafy Scrollwork

A semi mystery thread. It is HDF. It is labeled. It is a Single Stranded Regular silk. The mystery is how I got it because I never ordered SSR a la cart. I suspect it came in a bag of mystery spools from an old carrot option in the shopping menu.

I absolutely love the SSR. I wonder if the new SSR is like this onld one. The coverage on 36 ct is better than 1 ply from the 6 stranded.

I also love this color. It reminds me of leaves starting to change for fall or a forest path. The color numbers listed on the mini spool are: 5135/5271/3255/3221 which I think is a combination of Kodiak Bear 5135/Jackalope 5271/Luteus Green 3255/Willow Withies 3221